Language through Literature

Chameleon


Из лавок высовываются сонные физиономии, и скоро около дровяного склада, словно из земли выросши, собирается толпа.

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Sleepy faces poke out of the shops, and soon a crowd has gathered by the timber yard, as though it had sprung up out of the ground.

Where it stands

Он бежит за ней и, подавшись туловищем вперёд, падает на землю и хватает собаку за задние лапы. He runs after her and, pitching his body forward, falls to the ground and seizes the dog by her hind legs.

Слышен вторично собачий визг и крик: «Не пущай!» A second time the dog’s yelping is heard, and a shout: “Don’t let her go!”

The words in this sentence

из
from, out of (+ gen)
ла́вок
of shops, benches (gen pl) — лавка
высо́вываются
stick out, poke out (3pl) — высовываться
со́нные
sleepy, drowsy (nom/acc pl) — сонный
физионо́мии
face, physiognomy (gen/dat/prep sg) — физиономия
и
and; also, even
ско́ро
soon; quickly
о́коло
near, about, around (+gen)
дровяно́го
firewood, wood- (gen/acc m/n sg) — дровяной
скла́да
warehouse, store, depot (gen sg) — склад
сло́вно
as if, just like
земли́
of the earth (gen sg) — земля
вы́росши
having grown up (gerund, arch.) — вырасти
собира́ется
is getting ready; intends (3sg) — собираться
толпа́
crowd (nom)

А. П. Чехов, «Хамелеон», 1884 · sentence 8 of 53

This is one sentence of «Хамелеон» — 53 sentences long, and the whole story reads like this: every word glossed where it stands, the English out of your eyeline until you ask for it. Free, no account.

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